U.S. Elections See Dramatic Rise in Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

Date: 22 October 2018 - 21:42

News ID: ۵۸۸۰۹

WASHINGTON (Guardian) -- The 2018 midterm elections have seen a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric, a new report has found, as political campaigns are emboldened by Donald Trump’s ascent to the White House.
The findings demonstrate the depth of anti-Muslim messaging ahead of the 6 November vote, tactics that echo attempts to inflame fears around immigrants and people of color.
"We’ve seen anti-Muslim candidates running in every region,” said Scott Simpson, public advocacy director of Muslim Advocates, which commissioned the report.
"We’ve seen them running at every level of office, from the school and planning boards all the way to governor and Congress. We’ve seen it in liberal places and conservative places.
"It has really taken root and become very widespread.”
The report examined more than 80 campaigns across the U.S. run by candidates who have engaged in anti-Muslim campaign attacks over the last two years. Almost all of the candidates are Republican.
Conspiracy theories targeting Muslims have increasingly entered the political mainstream. The majority of the candidates openly targeting Muslims – 64% – are either elected or appointed officials or boast of a presidential endorsement.
More than a third have claimed that Muslims are inherently violent or pose an imminent threat, the report found, and have propagated the existence of a Muslim conspiracy to take over communities or infiltrate government. Just under a third of the candidates considered have called for Muslims to be denied basic rights or declared that Islam is not a religion.
Many such attacks echo rhetoric used by Trump and other Republican presidential contenders in 2016, as anti-Muslim sentiment reached new heights within the party’s primary electorate.
Trump called for a ban on all Muslims coming to the U.S. and flirted with the idea of a Muslim registry. He also falsely claimed Muslims celebrated in New Jersey following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and openly declared that "Islam hates us”.
"Since the 2016 election, how easy it is for candidates to really use Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric as a part of their platform,” said Mohamed Gula, political director at Emgage, an organization focused on electing more Muslims to public office.
"Whether you go to a masjid or are part of any institution within the Muslim community, you’re attached to the Muslim Brotherhood.”